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International Medical Internships in Vietnam

Role: To work alongside highly skilled doctors and nurses in a variety of different departments

Type of placements: Hospitals

Requirements: Volunteers must have completed at least one year of medical related studies

Accommodation: Host family or shared volunteer apartment

Price: From

What’s included? Food, accommodation, transfers to and from our specified airport, transport to and from work where required, insurance, personal webpage, induction and orientation, 24/7 support

What’s not included? Flights, visa costs, spending money

Length of placement: From 2 weeks

Start dates: Flexible

Volunteering on a Medicine Project in Vietnam with Projects Abroad is a challenging experience that will allow you to gain new skills and knowledge in a medical setting. You will be based in Hanoi at one of several different hospitals where you will shadow and work alongside some of the most skilled doctors in the country.

The hospitals we are partnered with are generally of a high standard and are equipped with the modern technology that you would find in hospitals in your own country. At each hospital you will be able to observe differences in general healthcare practices, such as traditional medicine or family members caring for patients instead of nurses.

In addition to the main hospital departments (surgery, paediatrics, oncology, internal medicine, dermatology, acupuncture, ICU, cardiology, traditional medicine, and dentistry), volunteers can also choose to be placed in radiology and plastic surgery departments.

Surgery can be further broken down into:

General surgery

Neurosurgery

Orthopaedic surgery

Thoracic surgery

Maxillo-facial surgery

Spinal surgery

Cardiovascular surgery

Digestive surgery

Emergency abdominal surgery

Hepato-biliary surgery

Interning Abroad in Medicine in Vietnam with Projects Abroad

On arrival you will be introduced to your supervisor. Their role is to ensure that you have the opportunity to learn as much as possible during your placement. Your role at the hospital will usually start by being observational as you shadow the local staff. If you show enthusiasm and initiative and develop a good relationship with the medical staff, you may find that you gain enough trust to be given more to do. As with any job – and especially in the field of medicine - you must prove yourself to be trustworthy before you are given responsibilities.

Although English is increasingly spoken in Vietnam, not all of the doctors will speak English. Projects Abroad will therefore provide you with a translator for your first couple of weeks to help you settle in and you can ask lots of questions.

Most hospitals in Vietnam provide treatment to the patients in the morning. Hospital staff work on paperwork in the afternoons. During the afternoons volunteers can therefore continue to provide treatment to patients if needed, research cases, or help by teaching conversational English to some of the doctors and nurses.

You will usually work from Monday to Friday with the weekends free. Depending on the location of your placement, you will stay with a local host family or in a Projects Abroad rented volunteer house. In your free time, you can explore the area with other Projects Abroad volunteers.

It is possible to join the medical project at the hospitals and rehabilitation centres for just two weeks, if you don’t have time to join us for a longer period, however, please be aware that you may not be able to make the same impact as someone volunteering for a longer period.

This placement is fully researched, safety audited and risk assessed in accordance with the British Standard BS8848 for the Adventure Travel Sector.